1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for plugging spike holes in railroad ties and, more specifically, for a riding station upon which an operator may sit while plugging spike holes and which is towed by a conventional plugging machine. This invention further provides for a method of using a tie plugger riding station.
2. Background Information
Railroad repair and maintenance includes the removal and re-laying of track on a railroad bed. Typically, only one rail at a time is removed for the repair/maintenance operation. To remove the rail, the railroad spikes, and/or the spikes securing the tie plates, must be removed. After the rail is removed, a tie with empty spike holes remains. To ensure that the rail is properly secured when re-laid, the spike holes must be plugged so that the new spike can find purchase when installed.
The plugging of spike holes once was accomplished using wood plugs which were inserted into the holes. Modern tie plugging, however, is mostly performed using chemicals, e.g., urethane or epoxy-based compounds. The chemical plug material is typically separated into two components, e.g., a resin and a curing agent. An operator uses an injection gun, which combines the two components, to fill a spike hole with the chemical plug. To perform this operation, or to drive wooden plugs into spike holes, an operator must walk behind a plugging as machine described below.
A plugging machine is, typically, a self-propelled vehicle having at least one rail wheel and a non-rail wheel. The plugging machine carries tanks filled with the chemical components used to make the plug and a pump. The plugging machine also carries heaters, proportioners, storage drums and other equipment. The chemical components are pumped through hoses to an injection gun which, as described above, is used to insert the combined compound in the spike hole. The vehicle does not, however, carry the injection gun operators.
The non-rail wheel of the plugging machine travels over the railroad bed adjacent to, or over top of, the location where the rail was removed. The railroad bed includes the exposed tie tops, various debris, and ballast cribs, that is, the interstice between ties, which may be filled with ballast or empty. Thus, the railroad bed is a very rough surface to travel over. A surface so rough, in fact, that the plugging machine shakes too much for an injection gun operator to ride thereon and perform the injection procedure. That is, the plugging machine shakes so much that the injection gun operator is not able to effectively line up or insert the injection gun in most spike holes. Thus, the injection gun operator is forced to walk behind the plugging machine, carrying the injection gun.
Plugging operations could be achieved faster and with less strain on the injection gun operators if the injection gun operator did not have to walk. There is, therefore, a need for a riding station upon which injection gun operators could ride.
There is a further need for a riding station that provides a ride sufficiently smooth enough for the injection gun operator to align the injection gun with the empty spike holes.
There is a further need for a riding station that is compatible with existing equipment.
These needs, and others, are satisfied by the present invention which provides a riding station having an articulated wheel assembly. As on the plugging machine, the riding station has at least one rail wheel structured to ride on the rail that remains in place. The other side of the riding station, however, is supported by an articulated multi-wheeled truss frame having a plurality of pivot points. Because the truss frame has more than a single pivot point between the wheels and the frame assembly of the riding station, the truss frame wheel assembly provides a ride that is sufficiently smooth for an injection gun operator to sit on the riding station and plug spike holes.
The truss frame has a main pivot coupling and two-wheel member pivot couplings. The truss frame is rotatably coupled to the main frame assembly by the main pivot coupling. Two wheel members, which are typically rigid bars, are rotatably coupled to the truss frame at the wheel member pivot couplings. Two wheels are rotatably attached at either end of each wheel member. That, the wheels are disposed on either side of the wheel member pivot couplings. This configuration provides multiple pivot points between the wheels and the main frame assembly.
At least one seat assembly is disposed on the main frame assembly. The seat assembly includes an injection gun support assembly that allows the injection gun to be moved vertically and horizontally. The injection gun is coupled to the gun support assembly so that the nozzle of the injection gun is located proximal to the spike holes in the ties.
The main frame assembly further includes two steering bars that are structured to be attached to a plugging machine. The steering bars extend from the main frame assembly and cross before the plugging machine coupling ends. The steering bars, and the seat assembly, may be oriented towards the front side or the back side of the main frame assembly. That is the seat assembly and the steering bars may be used regardless of whether the rail-wheel is located on the right side of the main frame assembly or the left side. Thus, the riding station may be used regardless of which rail, left or right, has been removed.